We are currently soliciting bids for universities to volunteer to host future MSW events.

The Midwest Security Workshop (MSW) series brings together researchers in computer security and privacy from throughout the Midwestern United States. Before the start of the covid pandemic, the MSW Steering Committee accepted bids from Purdue University and one other university to host the two subsequent MSW events. However, the MSW Steering Committee currently would like to select one or two other universities as the site for subsequent editions of the workshop. To ensure fair consideration for all Midwest universities, we hold a lightweight bidding process for schools that are potentially interested in hosting.

What are the benefits of hosting the workshop? MSW is a high-impact event that provides great visibility for your security research to your department, university, and region. In recent years, the workshops have drawn between 150 and 230 attendees, the vast majority of whom are visitors to campus. By hosting, you'll create opportunities for young security researchers and help us to grow this fantastic community.

What goes into hosting the workshop? MSW is free to attend and does not have proceedings, meaning that very little infrastructure is required to host a successful event. Your specific responsibilities as local organizers will include securing facilities, necessary AV equipment, and catering. As organizing committee members, you'll also work with non-local organizers from other universities to plan and facilitate the workshop's programming (e.g., panels, poster sessions, speed mentoring), manage registration, solicit donations, and complete other tasks required for a successful event.

What does hosting the workshop cost? Because MSW is a free event, hosting will entail working with your institution to secure in-kind support for facilities and possibly staff support. The recent iterations of MSW have cost less than $5,000 in direct costs to host (mostly catering costs), which have been covered primarily by the host institution. That is, recent host institutions have also covered the overtime costs for administrative, custodial, and AV staff to be present for the workshop. If you are interested in bidding, you or your institution should be prepared to contribute roughly $5,000 for catering costs or to secure external funding from partners.

Application Deadline: We encourage institutions that are planning to submit a bid to informally let us know by email (midwestsec8@gmail.com) of their intention to bid by October 15th, 2024. We request that formal bids (the materials described below) be submitted by email to midwestsec8@gmail.com by November 1st, 2024. We expect to announce decisions by November 8th, 2024 so that we can announce the next few MSW hosts at this year's workshop.

Application Materials: An application consists of a brief document (about 1-2 pages of text) that contains the following information:

• Local Organizers: List your names, email addresses, websites, and describe your team's past exposure to the Midwest Security Workshop (e.g., past attendance). Please limit the number of organizers on the bid to three. At least two of the organizers should be based at the host institution.
• Facilities Description: Outline a tentative plan for the event that supports a ~200 seat auditorium space for plenary sessions, a multi-purpose space suitable for meals and potentially poster sessions, and eight or more rooms that can support smaller breakout discussions.
• Travel Considerations: Please identify how you expect attendees from throughout the region to reach your university, including any notable travel options (e.g., trains, shuttles from a nearby major city). Please also describe the parking situation at your university for attendees who plan to drive/carpool.
• Amenities, Attractions, and Other Considerations: Please include any other information about your university or town that may be of interest to attendees, or would otherwise help us to make a decision about the next MSW location. Some examples might include: lodging options or nearby dining/entertainment that could draw attendees to your university.
• At least one letter or email from a department head, institute head, or other administrative official outlining institutional support for the bid. If applicable, the letter should express the organizational unit's intent to offer financial support such as in-kind use of facilities, administrative or technical staff, etc.

Evaluation Criteria:

• Logistical feasibility of hosting MSW on your campus.
• Institutional support for hosting MSW on your campus.
• Your organizing team's level of involvement with past MSW events.
• Likelihood of strong attendee turnout should you host MSW on your campus.
• Consistent with our goal of creating professional development opportunities for security researchers at all levels, we will prioritize bids that prominently feature junior faculty organizers. It is ok to have non-junior organizers, though!
• While the boundaries of the "Midwest" are ambiguous, at this time we are only considering bids from universities in the following states: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio, and Wisconsin.